


Conflict of Character

by SlinkySpiders



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alpha Gladio, Alpha Noctis, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, FFXV Brotherhood, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Omega Ignis, Pack Dynamics, a little ooc but isnt all fanfic, omega Prompto, omega drop, self indulgent, smidgen of porn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2018-10-20
Packaged: 2019-08-04 21:01:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16354232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlinkySpiders/pseuds/SlinkySpiders
Summary: Ignis did not consider himself to be a jealous man.He was the Prince's advisor and a perfectly fine omega never mind that his alphas spent all their time with Prompto who was small and perfect and omegalike and not at all like Ignis with his long limbs and-(Wherein, Ignis accidentally makes himself terribly sick with his insecurities)





	Conflict of Character

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! I'm back with more ffxv! This time I figured I might as well write some self indulgent omegaverse. Why not. Life is too short not to write about the things you enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I imagine this takes place right after Noctis and Prompto graduate high school. Noctis n Prom are 18, Ignis is 20, and Gladio is 21.

Ignis Scientia knew he was a proper advisor.

He was keen, smart, and diligent without being callous or cold. He worked efficiently to guide Noctis' life in the right direction while still letting him sneak his vegetables under the rim of his plate during dinner.

He hardly ever paid any attention to his dynamic. Though born omega, he had been trained from an early age to resist alpha pheromone influence. Even Gladio, a heavy seed, couldn't knock him off his feet even at his most domineering. When he officially presented at 14, he immediately began wearing scent neutralizing patches and taking strong suppressants. Ignis didn't have time for biology and heats and pups-he was a bloody member of the prince’s royal entourage!

It was no secret, nor was he ashamed, but he maintained his scent and stance so well that hardly anyone knew he was an omega; only his pack and their respective fathers knew. And Cor, but he knew everything. Most assumed he was a typical beta with an unusually prominent scent, but still not nearly strong enough to be an omega.

Ignis did not have time nor care for his dynamic. He knew the important medical details, he limited his heats to twice a year, and he continued on as he always had.

But two weeks earlier, he had defied his expectations.

He had fallen into a pack.

When Noctis has approached him about it, nervous and sincere, he couldn't say no. After all, he did love Gladio and Prompto deeply. Both had wormed their way into his heart, more or less. He agreed, seeing it as a better chance to strengthen his ability to look after Noctis while still expressing his affection for the trio.

Although they had yet to engage sexually together as a foursome (though he had had individual encounters with his two alphas) Ignis told himself he couldn't care less. Being "pack omega" or whatnot didn't appeal to him. He would much rather just continue on as they had.

So, with all of this in mind, why on earth did he feel the way he did now?

He'd just entered Noctis' apartment, toed his shoes off, and was met with the sight of his three packmates crammed onto the prince's couch, loudly playing video games. Prompto was squeezed between the two alphas, his face lit up with joy as he obviously destroyed the other two in whatever game they were playing.

When Ignis had agreed to this arrangement, he never assumed that having two omegas in a pack would cause issues. While it was uncommon, it wasn't completely unheard of, and all of them got along just fine. Plus, he wasn't supposed to care about biology.

And so, he stood, feeling his chest tighten as he watched his two alphas enjoy their other omegas company. He felt like he was watching a scene as an outsider, despite the fact that he was scented and cared for.

"COME on, that's not fair-!" Noctis whined.

"Don't be such a sore loser," Prompto countered, sticking out his tongue.

Noctis tossed his head back and let out a fake, over-dramatic sigh, "You're lucky you're so cute." 

Gladio made a rumbling noise in the back of his throat in agreement. 

Ignis felt his chest tighten even more at the comment. In tandem, his irritation rose, unhappy at his innate emotions causing him such unnecessary distress.

Ignis did not consider himself to be a jealous man.

He was the Prince's advisor and a perfectly fine omega - never mind that both of his alphas spent all their time with Prompto who was small and perfect and much more omega-like and not at all like Ignis with his long limbs and-

He pinched his nose and breathed out, trying to unwind the coil inside his chest.

This caught the attention of his packmates, who all looked up and smiled when they saw him in the entryway.

"Hey Ig," Gladio said gruffly.

"Iggy!" Prompto exclaimed, pausing the game and jumping off the couch to run over and crush him in a hug.

Ignis softly returned it, smiling, and ignored the fact that Prompto smelled more like his alphas than he did.

_(because ignis was too long, too quiet, too beta- he was bad bad bad-)_ his hindbrain taunted.

Gladio and Noctis walked over as well, both smiling. Once Prompto had finished scenting him they both took a turn, their combined scents relaxing him a bit. Really, he had no idea why he'd been so worried in the first place.

"You ok, Specs?" Noctis asked, "You smell a little anxious."

Ignis shook his head, "Just a long day is all. Don't worry about it."

Noctis didn't look convinced, but Ignis knew he wouldn't be rude and press for more.

"Mm, if you say so."

\----

The situation went unspoken for a few days, and soon enough he found himself back at Noctis' apartment, chopping vegetables that the prince would hopefully at least touch at dinnertime. It had been a slow week and Ignis was more than happy to provide for Noctis and Prompto, and it was definitely _not_ because he felt like more of a proper, desirable omega when he was doing this, cooking for his mates-

It was because he loved these people, because he had always done this regardless of dynamic. He had never, in his life, cared about such things. He was not about to start now because they'd finally put a label to this little dance the four of them had been doing for years.

Ignis repeated this to himself as he harshly cut into a carrot, accidentally slicing it asymmetrically every other time. The board thudded loudly, but the sound did nothing to rouse the other two residents; both were curled up on the couch, napping softly. Prompto was purring lightly in his sleep, a rare noise for omegas. A noise to be treasured. Listened to. Appreciated for its display of trust.

But in his current state, the purrs only seemed to rouse Ignis' emotions and anxiety. Each reverb seemed to reignite the feelings he had felt the other evening, except now it felt deeper. The thoughts that had only surprised him then were getting louder and louder with each passing second. Each increase in volume led to tightness, uncomfortable tightness he could not explain. In all his time of being an omega, of being alive, he had never felt this way.

He took a deep breath as he slid the veggies from the cutting board into the frying pan, trying to remind himself of the truth he thought he understood.

Ignis loved Noctis.

Ignis loved Prompto.

Ignis loved Gladio.

All three of them equally loved him in return.

They did not prefer Prompto over him as their omega because they were equals, and Ignis had nothing to worry about. Nevermind that Prompto had only known the alphas a few years and yet had managed to gain their love and trust instantly. Nevermind that Ignis had worked for that love and trust for over a decade, that he had been chosen for Noctis before Prompto was in elementary school. That he had seen Noctis at his lowest, after the accident. That he had trained with Gladio since they were barely teens, flirting between maneuvers. Nevermind that Prompto just happened to be the perfect omega, that he was everything in an omega Ignis wasn't and that was why he had gained their trust, why Prompto was better-

He snapped out of his thoughts when he accidentally flipped a broccoli stem onto the floor, and with a sigh he put the spatula down, rubbing his temple.

"Get a hold of yourself, Scientia," he muttered, letting the veggies fry for a bit as he roughly put pasta into a nearby boiling pot.

He felt like he was getting a headache.

He threw the thoughts out of his head and pushed his focus back to the cooking. He was here to spend time with his mates, make some delicious food, and - hopefully - have a lovely evening.

As the vegetables calmed down to a good simmer, he checked the pasta. It was almost done and Ignis smiled, feeling a bit more accomplished. Regardless of how many times he cooked, he still felt proud when a dish went exactly the way he wanted.

He stirred the vegetables idly, waiting for the pasta to finish cooking.

Noctis and Prompto shifted on the couch and Ignis caught wind of their happy scents, something light and airy, and it made his heart flutter. Noctis whined, deep and low, as Prompto snuggled in closer to him; Ignis looked up, just in time to catch Noctis scent Prompto softly, digging his head into the junction of Prompto's neck. It was an intimate place, reserved for mates only, and although Ignis knew that Noctis was not impulsive nor irrational enough to bond Prompto right now, right here, in the goddamn living room, the open sign of half-awake affection (one that Noctis rarely did with Ignis, nor had Gladio ever done with Ignis) twisted his gut.

The insecurities started bubbling up like hot, angry magma yet again, and Ignis resisted the urge to whine out loud in discomfort. His eyes were burning and his heart was clenching something awful, and he had to force himself to look away.

Across the room, he heard Prompto mumble, "Mm, Noctis, that tickles..."

_(not you- not you, bad omega. he won't mark you like that because you're bad, bad bad- they don't want you-)_

Ignis ignored him, hands shaking with anxiety and confusion, and decided to pick up the pot of pasta instead to strain it.

Bad plan.

"Shit-!"

Unsteady hands and a distracted mind had caused the pot to slip out of his grip, and hot water splashed out of the pot and covered his right forearm. It scalded his nerve endings immediately and he let out a loud, pained cry that had both Noctis and Prompto shooting up out of their seats and rushing to Ignis' side.

Now slouched over from the burning pain on the floor, Ignis held his arm and was trying not to let his eyes fill with tears. Tears would not help. Tears-

"Oh my god, Ignis," Noctis said, sliding onto the floor beside him, hesitant hands in the air.

Prompto was immediately at his opposite side, eyes wide as saucers. "What happened? Are you okay?"

Ignis bit his lip and turned his head down, not strong enough to look either in the eyes, "I just lost my grip, it's alright."

"Here," Noctis said gently and extended his outstretched arms further, "Let me see."

Slowly, Ignis turned over his arm and tried to ignore the flinch both of his packmates made at the sight of the angry red flesh of his forearm.

"Iggy, that looks like a lot more than a lost grip," Prompto commented softly.

Such a comment coming from the omega felt like a slight at the time, and Ignis fired back a response he would wholly regret later; "I don't remember asking for your opinion, Prompto."

Prompto's expression tightened as his scent soured and he backed away a couple inches. Noctis looked between the two of them and sighed.

Ignis really didn't want to be questioned right now, not when he was all tossed up and freshly burnt from the stupid pasta water because of his stupid insecurities that he needed to ignore-

After a moment of quick deliberation Noctis said, "Hey, Prom, can you go wet a towel with cool water and bring it back?"

With a short nod, Prompto was gone in a blur, spooked out of the room. Ignis immediately felt some pride at being able to shoo away the other omega, a feeling that was quickly followed with disgust at himself for thinking that. When had he lost sight of what was important?

Noctis helped him up, stopping only to turn off the stove, and carefully guided him to the table and sat him down on a chair. Now that the initial shock had passed, Ignis could feel the embarrassment brewing. He wanted nothing more than to go home and crawl away from everything, forever. The fact that he had just allowed his irrational omegan thoughts to actually cause harm to himself, to worry two of his packmates, was unacceptable.

"Is everything ok? It's not like you to slip-"

"Yes-" Ignis interrupted, before he could stop himself.

"-or snap at Prompto," Noctis finished. 

Ignis looked Noctis in the eyes, seeing nothing but concern there, but he wasn't about to admit his thoughts out loud. Noctis didn't need to know about such nonsense.

Before either of them could continue into the awkward conversation, Prompto returned, sour smell and all.

Noctis made quick work of wrapping Ignis' arm in the towel. He let out a breath at the relief, but he could tell Noctis was not nearly as pleased. The alpha looked harsh and Ignis shrunk back. Prompto hovered nearby, obviously anxious, but Ignis felt exhausted and tongue-tied. He mentally promised himself to make it up to Prompto later. 

It was a tense few minutes between them before Noctis took the towel off, and as soon as he did Ignis shot up and headed for the door, no longer willing to stay in the oppressive environment he had inadvertently created.

"Ignis, where are you going? You need to wrap that," Noctis called after him.

"I'll do it when I get home," Ignis managed, hastily slipping his shoes on.

Noctis came into the entryway, standing before him to try and block the way to the door, and Ignis just wanted to curl in on himself and cry. "Come on, what's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong, I just remembered that I have a proposal to work on for the council that's due tomorrow morning," Ignis said, voice shaky to match his quaking fingers as he grabbed his briefcase and stepped past the shorter male in front of him.

Noctis immediately started to protest, but didn't step in his way again. "Come on, we both know that's not-"

"Goodnight, your highness."

Ignis slammed the door, face hot, and wished he could understand what the hell was happening.

\---

_7:35pm  
pillowprince: hey somethin is wrnong with specs_

_7:40pm  
guard of my ass: whaddya mean_

_7:41pm  
pillowprince: he just spilled hot watr on himself n snapped at prompto_

_7:42pm  
pillowprince: and then he ran out of my apartment_

_7:45pm  
guard of my ass: maybe he's just havin a bad week_

_7:46pm_  
pillowprince: idk man ive nevr seen him like this b4  
he smelled like rottten milk like his scent was so upset ive never smelled anything like that on him before  
i think somtihng is seriosly wrong  
idk what to do  
can you reach out or something 

_7:48pm  
guard of my ass: you kno for being the next king ur not v forceful_

_7:49pm  
pillowprince: not in the mood for joking around gladio_

_7:53pm_  
guard of my ass: sorry sorry ill shoot him a text tonight  
we train tomorrow afternoon so i can check up on him then  
whatd he say to prompto? btw? 

_7:54pm  
pillowprince: told him that "he didnt ask for his opinion" or some shit when prom made a comenmet about the burn_

_7:58pm_  
guard of my ass: huh that is weird  
ill let u kno if i find out anything  
love you 

_8:00pm  
pillowprince: lov u 2, thx_

\---

_8:10pm  
gladio: you doin ok? _

_8:30pm  
Ignis Scientia: Yes, please don’t worry yourself _

_8:33pm_  
gladio: if you say so  
if u need anything lemme kno  
love u 

_9:00pm  
Ignis Scientia: I love you too_

\---

"What do you mean, he cancelled?" Gladio exclaimed, obviously exasperated.

Nyx just stood there and shrugged, unaffected. "Scientia came to me this morning and asked to spar with me instead. Told me to tell you that he cancelled because he wanted to try out a different type of opponent." 

"And he told _you_ this, instead of telling his packmate directly?" Gladio retorted, voice tight. 

Nyx raised his hands defensively, "Don't shoot the messenger!”

Gladio huffed and crossed his arms in front of his chest, obviously annoyed, but backed down. "It's fine. Sorry to pull you into this." 

"Don't worry about it! I'm sure you guys will sort this funk out in a heartbeat," Nyx replied as he stood up, clapping his hand on Gladio's shoulder.

Gladio really hoped so too.

\--- 

Ignis was definitely _not_ ignoring his packmates.

He had, more or less, arranged to be able to avoid his packmates. With legitimate excuses. That he totally didn't create just to avoid them. He just busied himself with meetings, had meals delivered to Noctis' apartment, rearranged his training schedule. All legitimate things. The one he felt the worst about was putting off one of his weekly lunches with Prompto, conversations he usually looked forward to, but now was dreading. 

After the burn incident he had gone home and sat in bed for ten hours, his embarrassment burning hotter than the skin on his arm and a fight churning in his mind. The omega in him struggling against the facts, but even the facts seemed to blur more and more as the hours went on. 

What if Gladio and Noctis really did prefer Prompto over him? What if they didn't prefer him now, but would later? What if they'd always wanted Ignis to be a better omega and were sick of waiting? What if they were just humoring him? What if they kicked him out of the pack?

Reasonably, he knew that he should probably confront his lovers before jumping to wild conclusions, but that in and of itself was a little too much to think about. He didn't want to face Noctis' inevitable questioning, or Gladio's anger about cancelling their many sessions, or Prompto's confusion. The scariest of all, though, was perhaps the truth that they didn't really want him. That his bland, beta-esque scent and too-tall-for-an-omega body had no room in their pack. 

He'd deal with it eventually, he told himself.

For the most part, excluding a few worried texts Ignis had dismissed, his pack had left him alone without issue. Part of him appreciated the breathing room, but a bigger part of his mind took the isolation as another sign. Perhaps they were happy to stop dealing with him, to stop smelling him. Now they had time with Prompto and Prompto alone, the perfect omega. Ignis was nothing but an old obligation to them, a friend that stuck around too long. He couldn't stop thinking about it, and when he thought he could think about something else, he thought about it some more.

But now almost a week has gone by, and Ignis doesn't know when he's going to stop stalling. The longer their separation stretches, the worst he feels.

Alongside his conflicted heart he could smell his own scent beginning to sour, despite the patches, and he felt like he'd run a ten-mile marathon. His hair was greasy and his face pale, as if he was coming down with a cold, but he didn't necessarily feel sick. Just worn down. As if he had been told that everyone in his life had been brutally killed by some foreign chancellor. His scent glands were swollen, but not as if he were in heat, and they ached more and more each day. Surely it just had to be the stress, there wasn't another reason he could think of.

The eighth day came and went and he could feel the pain of his mental and physical state reaching a breaking point. Whether he wanted to or not, he needed to get this over with, whatever the outcome may be.

\---

The minute he opened the apartment, he knew something was wrong. 

He rushed into the house, still wearing shoes, and found his three packmates playing poker at the dining table. They smelled like sex. 

Like, group sex. 

Without him. 

Ignis felt his heart fall deep into his stomach.

_(they were intimate without me, they prefer prompto over me. because im a bad omega, because im a bad, bad omega. ill never have them, ill-)_

They looked up at him and he didn't even have the time to process their faces. 

He knew they were speaking, but the more he could smell of their previous activities the louder the blood pounding in his ears got, and he couldn't hear them. 

He was right. 

He rushed out.

\---  
_(need to hide need to hole away they dont want me theydontwant you they dont want me ugly, long, omega. ugly long limbed omega. stinky omega. im stupid stupid, stupid they dont want me i dont deserve them they have prompto all they need is prompto im bad bad badbadbadbadbabdbabdabdbabbad)_

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought in the comments below and/or leave a kudo! Any reception rly does make my day :)


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